IIT Delhi

IIT Delhi is the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. It sits at Hauz Khas, New Delhi. Its About page says it is one of 23 IITs.

What kind of body is it?

It is a self-governing body set up by law. The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 governs it. Parliament amended that Act in 1963.

What is it meant to do?

The About page says the IITs are Centres of Excellence. They teach students. They also do research in science, engineering and technology.

What status does it hold?

• It is an Institution of National Importance.
• It once held Deemed University status.
• It became an Institute of Eminence in 2018.

The story starts with a plan to teach engineering in Delhi.

Who helped set it up?

The British Government agreed to help in a modest way. A College of Engineering and Technology was to be set up in Delhi. A body called the Delhi Engineering College Trust was formed. The UK government and British industry in London helped form it.

When was the foundation stone laid?

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, laid the foundation stone at Hauz Khas on 27 January 1959. He was visiting India.

When did classes start?

The college was registered as a society on 14 June 1960. The first admissions came in 1961. Students reported on 16 August 1961. Prof. Humayun Kabir formally inaugurated the college on 17 August 1961. He was then Minister of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs.

Who gave it degrees at first?

The college was affiliated to the University of Delhi.

Parliament changed its name and its legal standing.

What did the 1963 law do?

A 1963 law declared it an Institution of National Importance. It is called the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act. The same law renamed it IIT Delhi.

What came next?

It then got Deemed University status. That let it set its own academic policy, hold its own exams and award its own degrees.

What does the law say about its form?

The law makes each Institute a body corporate. It has a common seal and can sue and be sued in its own name.

Two bodies share the work.

What does the Board of Governors do?

It directs and controls the Institute’s affairs. It works through standing committees. Two of them are the Finance Committee and the Building and Works Committee.

What does the Senate do?

The Senate keeps the standards of teaching and exams. It makes the academic policies. It also designs the courses and the exam system.

Who held the top posts in August 2026?

As at 8 August 2026, Shri Harish Salve chaired the Board of Governors. Prof. Rangan Banerjee was the Director.

It is a status the Government of India gave in 2018.

What did it bring?

The 2018-19 annual report says the UGC and the Human Resource Development Ministry gave the status. The Institute was to get Rs 1,000 crore over five years.

How did the Institute plan to use it?

The report names three aims, the “3 I’s”. They are Internationalization, Interdisciplinary Research and Industry Connect.

Is it the same as Institution of National Importance?

No. The 1963 law gave the national-importance label. The eminence status came in 2018. Do not mix the two.

IIT Delhi has an extension campus at Sonipat in Haryana.

How big is it?

The annual report says it stands on 50 acres of land allocated by the Haryana Government. The same report says another extension campus was planned at Jhajjar, also on 50 acres.

What opened there in 2018?

A Technopark was formally inaugurated at the Sonipat extension campus on 3 April 2018. Manohar Lal Khattar, then Chief Minister of Haryana, was chief guest. Dr Satya Pal Singh, then Minister of State for HRD, was also present.

What is it for?

The report says the Technopark aims to boost innovation and research. The report also lists a Central Research Facility building under construction at Sonepat.

Param Pragya is an AI-powered high-performance supercomputing facility. It stands at the Sonipat campus of IIT Delhi.

What can it do?

The IIT Delhi press note gives these figures:

• It runs on 400 NVIDIA A100 80GB GPUs.
• That gives 250 AI petaflops of compute.
• It has 10 petabytes of Parallel File System Storage.
• The data centre draws about 800 kilowatts of power.

Why does it matter?

The press note calls it the latest supercomputing facility in Indian academia of its scale. The PMO expected it to raise the Institute’s strength in AI, data science, advanced computing and interdisciplinary research.

Who opened it?

The Prime Minister inaugurated it remotely during the 57th Convocation. The press note uses the word “remotely”. The facility itself stands at Sonipat.

His address was on 8 August 2026. PIB published an English rendering.

What did he say a degree means?

He said an IIT degree is more than a high CGPA or a placement offer. It tells the world that you know how to solve very difficult problems.

Which fields did he name?

He named nine fields that “await your talent”. They are artificial intelligence, data centres, critical minerals, deep sea exploration, batteries, power storage, energy security, electric mobility and quantum computing. So the “five frontiers” in some summaries are only part of his list.

What did he say about research?

He listed four steps:

• The Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship.
• The Research Development and Innovation Scheme.
• The National Research Foundation.
• Funding of up to Rs one lakh crore for research, which he said is “being arranged”.

What was his advice on comparison?

He said life is not a leaderboard. He told graduates their real race is with themselves.

It took place on 8 August 2026, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as chief guest.

How many graduated?

More than 3,000 students graduated. The press note gives the exact count as 3,036. That included 587 PhD graduates. Of those, 245 were women.

Who was on stage?

Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi and NITI Aayog member Prof. Abhay Karandikar were guests of honour. Harish Salve presided.

Which medals were given?

The Prime Minister gave out four honours:

• The President’s Gold Medal.
• The Director’s Gold Medal.
• The Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal.
• The Perfect Ten Gold Medals.

What else stood out?

• The youngest graduate was 19. The oldest was a 74-year-old PhD student.
• The first batches of B.Des., Executive MBA, M.Sc. in Biological Sciences and MA in Culture, Society, Thought graduated.

The August 2026 newsletter lists other events.

Which awards did it give?

The Institute gave Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2026 at the convocation. One went to Dr Vivek Raghavan, a co-founder of Sarvam AI. Two other alumni won Graduates of the Last Decade awards.

What happened in textiles?

Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh opened the Centre of Excellence for Handloom Technology at IIT Delhi. It will study loom upgrades, AI and digital tools.

What are the key points?

• Began: 1961, as the College of Engineering and Technology at Hauz Khas.
• Law: A 1963 law made it IIT Delhi.
• Eminence: Institute of Eminence status came in 2018.
• Sonipat: Technopark inaugurated on 3 April 2018.
• Param Pragya: 400 A100 GPUs, 250 AI petaflops.
• 2026: 57th Convocation on 8 August. 3,036 graduates, 587 PhDs.

What are the traps?

1. 1961 or 1963. The college began in 1961. The 1963 Act made it IIT Delhi.
2. Foundation or opening. The stone was laid on 27 January 1959. Classes began in 1961.
3. Hauz Khas or Sonipat. Param Pragya stands at Sonipat. The Hauz Khas campus is the main campus.
4. In person or remote. The Prime Minister inaugurated Param Pragya remotely.
5. Nine fields or five. He named nine fields in all. A question may list only five.
6. Eminence or national importance. Different status, different year.